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SI LI CO NVA LL EY IM PR ES SION S.C OM
CC-Yin: a life of active involvement people
America is a great country, there are always opportunities. Maybe there is not 100% equality, but you can change that if you participate”.
M eeting with CC at the local
Eighteen years after becoming an engineer, he decided to make the family restaurant was a treat. He confessed to us that he mostly eats drastic change from engineering to at one of his 32 McDonald’s restau- running a McDonald’s franchise. He has never looked back. rants; however, he appreciates the non-fast food atmosphere of this As business grew, CC started to place. deal with more and more social issues related to running a business. Being CC is not easy. He admits He realized that he had to rely on that he is a complex person. A his community, his people and his complex person with complex local government to be successneeds and a complex mind. ful. Throughout his business and personal development, his entrepreLife was hard for the young neurial spirit became enmeshed Taiwanese engineer 50 years ago. with a passion for communi“When I first came here, I needed ty service. He increasingly made help to find work, to understand himself available to serve his the American ways. I felt far away community; at the same time he from home and I was lonely. My realized that being involved in local fellow Chinese people have given me much support and help. I owe it politics could help him make a positive impact in the community. to them to be what I am today.” S I L I C O N VA L L E Y I M P R E S S I O N S | A p r i l 2 0 1 5
CC defines his idea of community service and civic engagement as at the “grass root level, community based, and building connection with all grass roots”. The correct political engagement is to empower the people so they can take ownership of America, be motivated to serve, and be inspired to contribute. “My only gift is that I am a steady and stable person. I am a long term minded person. I love to make friends, love to organize people, and I feel rewarded to get people to do things together. Doing things together is always more powerful than doing things alone.” CC himself comes from a community service family: his sister Eleanor built Chinese Service